Apple orders aluminum 13-inch MacBook shells, 3G iPhone chips — Separate reports have revealed that Apple's next wave of products for 2008 is soon to enter various stages of production, with orders placed for aluminum shells for the company's next-generation 13-inch MacBooks and a manufacturer chosen for the iPhone's 3G chipset.

Yahoo-Google Deal Advances — Yahoo Inc. moved closer to outsourcing its search advertising to Google Inc. after an initial test of the system yielded what the two firms deemed positive results, people familiar with the matter said. — A partnership could give Yahoo some needed leverage …

What's Going On With Red Hat Desktop Systems? An Update — Red Hat is well known as a supplier of server systems, so the latest developments with our desktop products and technologies sometimes find themselves in the shade. It's time for an update on the current state of the desktop at Red Hat.

May We Help You? — From the very beginning, we've always wanted to make sure that developers had all of the formal and informal support needed to build and to run their applications. — At first the task of monitoring the AWS Forums was a rotating part-time assignment.

UMG confirms Buzznet investment — Universal Music Group has confirmed that it has taken a stake in social networking music site Buzznet Inc., three months after we first reported the deal. UMG's Interscope division isn't mentioned in the companies' joint statement, although prior reports indicated …

Google Maps Predicts Traffic Conditions — Google Maps can now predict traffic information for any day of the week and time of the day, based on past conditions. By default, if you click on the Traffic button in a supported area from the US, Google Maps shows real-time traffic information.

Google, AOL execs: Opting out of targeted ads OK by us — WASHINGTON—As advocacy groups bristle at online advertisers' increasingly sophisticated targeting techniques, top privacy lawyers at Google and AOL on Thursday backed “opt-out” technology as a way to give Internet surfers more say in the process …

20 (Rare) Questions for Google Search Guru Udi Manber — as Web search, Udi Manber has been working on Web search. Previously a computer science professor at the University of Arizona, then a senior vice president at Amazon and Yahoo's chief scientist, Manber is now vice president in charge …

Microsoft's Ozzie gives open-source outlook — People trying to get a sense for Microsoft's direction will be listening closely in the coming months to Ray Ozzie, who has assumed the role of chief software architect in advance of Bill Gates ending his full-time role.